Why a boiler scrappage scheme?

The recent Car Scrappage scheme has proved a success for the car industry but a Boiler Scrappage Scheme, along the same lines, would do much more for the environment and the economy.

Here's more detail about the many reasons to sign our Downing Street petition now.

Lower bills  

Wasted gas is expensive. By replacing a G rated boiler with a new A rated condensing boiler and better controls, household bills can be cut by up to a quarter.[1]

In a family home that could mean a saving of £235 a year.

 

Less carbon dioxide

According to the Energy Saving Trust, boilers account for around 60% of the carbon dioxide emissions in a gas heated home.[2]

The EST calculates that if everyone in the UK with gas central heating installed a high efficiency condensing boiler, we would save 6.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, as much as the annual emissions of 1.2 million homes.

 

Support for jobs and small businesses

There are 120,000 registered Gas Safe plumbers and engineers in the UK, and many of them are sole traders or small businesses.[3]

But these tradespeople are reporting difficulties since the credit crunch. Williams and Co's annual 'State of the Trade' survey for 2009 [4] showed that more than half of firms are now cutting prices to secure work - double the number last year.

Order books are also lighter than in 2008, continuing a downward trend from 2007. Two years ago, 28.3% of plumbers reported more than 8 weeks of work on the books, a figure which plummeted to 14.2% this year.

An immediate boiler scrappage scheme would help these businesses stay afloat until the recession ends and new schemes to support boiler replacements come into effect in 2011.

 

A boost to UK manufacturing

Two of the leading manufacturers of boilers for the UK, Worcester and Baxi, are based right here.

Since 1962, Worcester has been a leading manufacturer of boilers for the UK market and now employs more than 2,000 people in Worcester and Derbyshire.[5]

Also based in the midlands, boiler and underfloor heating manufacturer Baxi has been making boilers in Britain since its foundation in the the 1930s by Richard Baxendale.[6]

 

Guaranteed environmental benefits

Unlike the car scheme, where drivers could claim the subsidy and spend it on a new 'gas guzzler', all the boilers replaced under this scheme would be environmentally friendly.

No bureaucracy would be needed to be sure of these savings because building regulations say that all new boilers fitted in homes have to be energy-efficient condensing boilers.[7]

As a result of these regulations, there are hardly any boilers on the market that aren't A-rated and more than 90% efficient.[8]

 

Convinced?

As this information shows, there are so many benefits from a boiler scrappage scheme it's hard to see why it isn't happening already.

Your signature, added to thousands of others on our petition, really could be all it takes to convince the Government to take this step.

 

Sign the petition now

 

 

NEW: Petition to the Northern Ireland Assembly

Click on the map to find out how to push for boiler scrappage in Northern Ireland - the only place in the UK set to miss out!

 

Full details and how to apply by email at the Energy Saving Trust website.

Click here

Who's signed already?

Andrew Warren, Director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy

"A Boiler Scrappage Scheme will have all the benefits of the scheme for cars but go even further: It will save more carbon, reduce fuel bills, and help preserve our nation’s dwindling energy supplies.

"It will create vital jobs for vital British industries, giving us green, affordable and healthy homes.  Let’s stop the gas-guzzlers now!"

 

Alan Ball, MD of PTS plumbing trade suppliers

"Not only could the boiler scrappage scheme result in financial benefits but it could also help with environmental targets.

"The installation of high efficiency boilers will help to cut fuel bills whilst increasing demand in all sectors of the industry. It's up to us to push for change and let the Government know that new schemes need to be put in place."

 

Dave Hampton, the Carbon Coach

"Few people realise just how much fuel an old boiler can be wasting, day in day out. So they put off the day they 'Rip it out and start again.'

"But with a boiler scrappage scheme everyone wins, apart from companies selling you gas you don't need of course!"

 

Sian Berry, 2008 Green Mayor of London candidate

"As soon as I saw this petition, I knew I had to sign it straight away.

"There's no downside to the boiler scrappage idea - it'll help small and medium-sized businesses across the country, boost UK manufacturing and help homeowners cut their bills and their carbon."

 

Charlie Mullins, MD of Pimlico Plumbers

"I'm 100% behind the Boiler Scrappage Scheme because it makes sense on so many different levels.

"Obviously, in these tough economic times it is a great way of stimulating demand, which will help keep Britain working and from an environmental point of view, every time we take out one of these old boilers we help the country meet its carbon reduction targets."

 

Mark Lazarowicz, Labour MP for Edinburgh North & Leith

"Rising fuel prices and the need to help families heat their homes affordably are serious issues that I have worked hard to address, as well as pressing for more rapid progress against climate change.

"I'm supporting the Reheat Britain campaign because a boiler scrappage scheme would not only help the plumbing and heating industries through the recession, it would help tackle these urgent problems as well."

 

Martin Horwood MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Minister

"What a brilliant idea. As a green counter-recessionary measure this is far more likely to save significant carbon emissions than a car scrappage scheme.

"We urgently need to tackle emissions at local and household level and this would make a real difference while helping to protect threatened jobs as well."

 

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